


Hard to Kill

by Kit_SummerIsle



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Cons being Cons, F/M, Plug&play, Sticky, Violence, dead humans, dub-con, revenge motive, some nsfw later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-17 17:32:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17564924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kit_SummerIsle/pseuds/Kit_SummerIsle
Summary: Don't underestimate Shatter. She is hard to kill and hungry for revenge. It's a dangerous combination. Add Barricade to the mix and you get real trouble.





	1. One down, one is... gone

The dark water in the dock slowly smoothed out as the disturbances ceased. No more falling debris from destroyed structures, no more fighting and exploding robots, and the crashed breakaway barge that had ponderously slid off the still flaming embankment with a metallic shriek had finally sank and settled under the dark surface. The few surviving lights tried but couldn't lit up the disturbed ocean that came into the enclosure, couldn't lit up all the jagged shapes in its depths. On the wharf and all over the radio tower secret service agents crawled, combing the place for the remains of the aliens and gruff military stared around with cocked guns, looking sharp for anyone who moved uninvited. The Cybertronian tech on the tower was the agents' greatest catch, so they mostly ignored the half-exploded and sunk barge amidst the dark green seawater, lapping the embankment gently now.

A few soldiers were ordered there too and dutifully, they swept the bay and the docks for signs of alien tech, for unexplained radiation and anything that could or would interest their superiors. They all knew that one of the aliens have escaped and that two should be dead in the midst of the flooded drydock, but to get in there and pull those out they needed some specialized equipment and divers. And they weren't a hurry – after all, dead robots didn't go anywhere.

Except... they did. 

One of the darker shapes in the bottom moved under the rippling surface. Slowly, carefully, stopping often and staying out of the small patches of lighted waters, collecting its own fallen pieces as it went, it moved purposefully towards the broken seawall. It stopped frequently as an agent overhead swept their flashlights over the rippling water or leaned over the edge to peer into the darkness. It itched to yank the fools into the water, to crush them, squeeze out their disgusting fluids, enjoy their last, gurgling shrieks... but it knew that that would be foolish and borderline suicidal with the sheer number of them around and all their weapons. Some of which, she knew were capable of hurting their kind, especially now, damaged and more vulnerable than other times.

And Shatter was not a fool. She was a hunter in other times, but first and foremost a survivor right now and she intended to stay alive. Revenge could come later – and it would come in time. Revenge on the little fleshbags with whom she had to play nice, who took Cybertronian knowledge and who planned to destroy them as soon as their uneasy collaboration was at an end. She firmly ignored that it was her intention as well. She was a Cybertronian, therefore superior to these puny organics. They could serve her purpose, but she would never serve them. 

Superior, even half dismantled. The runaway barge did a lot of damage, even to somemech as strong and sturdy as she was and though the explosion wasn't hot enough to truly harm Cybertronian metal, it also did some damage. Shatter collected the most important pieces she had lost when the barge crashed into her and squashed her against the wall. She was thankful that they had come across aquatic planets before, so most of her systems were properly insulated. Without it, she might not have survived at all. Cybertronians were a strong and durable race, Decepticons especially so, but electricity and water mixed like... well, electricity and water. Even now she had shorts and had to lock down a few systems for water damage. The pain it caused, she ignored. You do get to learn that in the Decepticon army. Showing weakness is for Autobots.

Shatter cast a last look back at the wharf, above the water, now teeming with humans. It was fortunate that they needed special equipment for underwater search, but it appeared that they had brought it at last. Funny that, she mused, that her species was more comfortable underwater than these noisy and messy organics. But well, no matter. It was time to slip away. She kicked off from the ruined metallic floodgate and sank into the open ocean. She couldn't swim of course, but the darkness, the water and the pressure didn't disturb her either. As soon as she hit the silty bottom she started to walk – plod really in the soft silt that she hated on principle because it would be Pit to clean out of her joints later and which dragged her feet at every step.

She moved ponderously, but determined several hics before daring to approach the shore again in the dim light of the dawn. The shore was rocky and deserted – perfect for hiding and repairing herself. And get out of the accursed water – it had far more life in it that Shatter liked around her. Organic life, disgusting, slimy and annoyingly curious. She had to kill a few of them, but that in turn invited several predators to the scene and though they were no more threat to her than humans, Shatter hated them on principle. And naturally, they were all slimy, messy like all organics. Meh.

She quickly found a secluded place among some of the larger cliffs and dumped her cargo onto some flattish rocks to dry out. She laid out as well, flaring her remaining plating as wide as it went, letting the remaining water – and some crushed aquatic lifeforms – drip out of her. The water that dripped out from damaged sections washed out some energon as well. Patching would be useless before she was dry, so she ignored it as much as she could. The sunshine, she had learned already, was strong on this planet, it would dry her frame out fast and she could soak up some of its energy too. 

The warmth, the quiet of the lapping waves and her tiredness caught up with her. Shatter snarled but she couldn't fight off the exhaustion any more and well... nomech was around to see a weak moment or two. She viciously snarled as she imagined stepping on that blasted human girl while she shot B-127 in the spark. They deserved to see each other die for fouling her plans. The Decepticon plans. A mere scout, a minibot at that! Unicron's ball bearings, she swore jerking painfully - she had got beaten by a minibot! It was such a shameful concept, it pained her more than the actual damage. A minibot with nary a designation! Because she hesitated for one klik, one blasted klik before killing him!

Shatter entertained herself with plans and scenarios of how she could get a revenge for that while she sunned and her plating and frame dried out. Then came the harder part. She was no medic, but every Decepticon, especially rangers, hunters like herself out on the fringes knew basic first aid and her own frame. Triplechangers were notoriously complex and hard to repair, but if she only fixed the car form for now, maybe she could store the rest and repair her jet form completely later. It would be more useful to hide as well, cars were abundant on this world while jets much less so and they appeared to be exclusively military ones.

Hide for now, see what was going on with Blitzwing – Dropkick was surely dead, she saw that clearly with her own optics and wasn't that a shock as well? – and find out if there was any more Decepticons on this planet. Con units operated independently from each other and while she knew about Blitzwing, she wasn't aware that he was also on this planet or what his objective was here. Then, she had to find another way to contact Command to notify them what she had learned. It was such an important news, she might get a pass for it for failing to get rid of B-127. Or so she hoped. The Air Commander's punishments for failed missions were... legendary. 

The next sunrise saw a battered, dented, dark red Plymouth Satellite slowly roll out on the beachside dirt road and smoothly driving onto the freeway. Like she did this in all her life. Pit, she wasn't even the most aggressive traveller on the road, she mused as another muscle car passed her with loud and obnoxious horn blaring and she itched to transform there and then to teach it a lesson. Then she remembered that it was not the car but the human driving it and she wanted to kill it even more. But she couldn't. Not yet without revealing herself and the neighborhood was probably teeming with the human military by now. 

She needed to get away and safety to make new plans. 

And revenge of course.


	2. Fancy meeting you here

Shatter drove through the day, soaking up the unusually rich sunshine of the planet, and drove all night too, the darkness not bothering her in the least. Driving took very little of her higher functions, so she could think – and plot. Only occasionally she paid any attention of the human traffic around her, like when they passed a bigger city of some sort and the full lanes of the highway reminded her of Cyberton. Of all the planets she visited during the course of the war, these disgusting organics made eerily similar cars to Transformers... which was really strange. Not that Cybertron had any more highways or full lanes with millions of mechs commuting to work like here... Shatter barely remembered what her homeworld was like before the war but the human traffic brought up those dim memories. 

For a short time before the war broke out, she used to be a factory worker, one of many millions powering Cybertron's industry, suffering its inequalities, the energon shortages, the riots, the crackdown from authorities, the distrust of military mechs and Tarnians in general... it wasn't a hard choice when Megatron declared his intentions, which side to join. But before that... she remembered the endless trudging in the commuter traffic every orn to her workplace and back to her meager lodgings at the end of endlessly long shifts... for a nanoklik she felt something in common with the vehicles surrounding her – they had the same aura of listless tiredness and uninterested, mindless driving.

But she shook that nostalgic drivel off soon, shaking on her wheels in disgust. She had nothing to do with these humans or their dead cars, absolutely nothing! 

Shatter grumbled at herself for succumbing to pointless nostalgia and left the highway at the next opportunity, driving across towns and cities. She was still working out the traffic lights – red obviously meant stop like purple did back home, green worked like blue for her, but humans behaved inconsistently at the yellow light. Some stopped and horned at her when she didn't – some went through it faster and blared their horns behind her when she stopped... road rules had never been her forte. War tended to erase any rules and warriors went where they pleased, however they pleased and shot anyone who didn't like that. But here, trying to blend in, it was not easy to pick up the rules on the fly. 

She really needed to get a map, these humans were so primitive, they didn't have an internet yet to download one. Though she might have given them that inadvertently, but it was not yet in general use and wouldn't be for awhile. After stealing a few maps from an automatic dispenser and scanning them – the flimsy paper didn't hold up well in her servos – she planned a route. The first objective would be to find another suitable radio tower to send off her message. Unfortunately the primitive maps didn't mark those, so she would need to search another way.

For a nanoklik she felt regret at not having Dropkick by her side. The two of them were an effective team and Dropkick properly knew his place by her side. Or under her, as the case may be. He was moderately good-looking, a good fighter– how Bumblebee bested him was still a source of wonder for her; it appeared that they both underestimated the blasted yellow minibot – and he submitted to Shatter without complaining. Well, without much complaining. From now on, it would have to be her own servos until more of the Decepticons arrived...

Cruising on a smaller road now, deep in her thoughts, Shatter nearly missed the flicker on one of her sensors that she didn't expect to go off, not here, not now... but a nanoklik later she made an about turn with screeching tires, elbowed a smaller car out of her way, ignored the horns blaring around her and slid onto a connecting road, leading into a little town. That signal was... Cybertronian. But how and who was on Earth and why? She certainly didn't know any Decepticons and the Autobots should arrive later if the blasted yellow minibot was correct. So who gave off that single blip of signal on a decidedly Cybertronian wavelength? 

With all sensors are on full sensitivity now, she roared into and around the sleepy little town... to find nothing. There were no signals now, no blips, not marks of anything but a few Humans and their dead cars everywhere. Was she imagining things? Or was it lingering damage in her sensory suite? Shatter cursed and drove around the small main square, intent on going her way again. On the right side of the road, a local enforcer car stood by the curb, Police, as they were called here. Shatter slowed to the speed she guessed as legal within the town as she approached the standing police car. Lacking interior space like so many real grounders, as it was taken up by her jet parts and kibble, she couldn't project a holodriver. Instead, she tinted her faux windows dark and cruised by it slowly. 

Only when she looked backwards, did she notice it. When she did, it was so obvious that Shatter cursed herself for not noticing before. The other must have had serious skills in blending in, unlike her. Throwing the gear into reverse, she accelerated towards the police car with tires screaming. It came to life as well, the lights on the top going on, the wail of the siren sounding... and it was most definitely not a human police siren, the notes had Cybertronian tonality, the one Shatter remembered well, that Enforcers had used in similar scenarios... She was barely a few meters from the police car, going backward still when it burst to motion, speeding like no human car could by her.

And that was it. The chase was on, whoever it was.

Shatter couldn't have denied her hunter programming even if she wanted to, which she didn't. Roaring after the faux police car they were out of the little town in kliks and onto deserted, smaller, twisting roads leading up to some hills. So the other wanted to hide too. Now, it was her intention too, so she followed the black and white Saleen – though follow was not the word she would use. No, it was chasing him, with all the intentions of a hunt, whoever he might turn out to be, though she might have had a few guesses. And he drove a good race, roaring and sliding in the corners, throwing up a slew of pebbles, accelerating fast, clearly using his prior knowledge of the surroundings... but Shatter wasn't a hunter for naught, she had a jet engine to power her and a good frame of this Earth-car she had chosen. 

He was fast and agile, which Shatter approved heartily, but she was that too. The roaring of their engines echoed among the hillsides and shook the roadside trees. They had come across a few human cars, but muscled them off the road, overtaking them so fast, the humans couldn't have a chance to see their license plates – which were both fakes, but still. The chase led them up the hills on twisting, narrow roads and down the other side, into hilly, forested land with no humans around and gravel roads taking the normal ones' places. Shatter quivered as she got very close to her quarry and when he slid a bit too much to the edge of a corner, one wheel spinning over empty space, halfway into a ravine and he overcompensated and ended up the other side, spinning out of control... then she transformed lightning fast and jumped. The other did too and their intertwined forms crashed into the hillside, rocks cascading around them as they fought.

Now she recognized him. Barricade was another hunter whom she had known from Cybertron, but had no idea that he was on Earth too. And he had a partner too, of whom she would do better to look out, because Frenzy was sly and had, in the past taken down mechs several times his size. In root form, Shatter was bigger than Barricade and heavier too, gaining an upper servo easily. The black and white mech managed to escape her hold a few times, but in the end she had him pinned under her for good. 

“Do you yield?” She snarled, bending his arm backwards in a threatening move, while the other servo gripped Barricade's throat firmly. Frenzy was nowhere to be seen thankfully.

The Saleen struggled a bit, trying to free his arm, but Shatter was stronger and arrested every move he tried. Barricade growled angrily and didn't relent.

“Damn you! What the frag are you doing here! You blew my cover!”

Shatter bent his arm more ruthlessly until the joint started to give and pained expression shot across the other mech's faceplates.

“Stop it!” Barricade snarled angrily but he stopped trying to wiggle out of her grip. In exchange Shatter didn't bend his elbow-joint more out of its socket.

“Yield!”

“Frag you, Shatter, it's... owww... no place to play your games!” Barricade stopped moving, but Shatter knew better than take it as yielding and her grip remained firm, sensors cast around for Frenzy. Not before he declared it. ”We both have a mission here!”

“I'm interested in hearing that mission too, but it can take those few minutes while you decide on a wiser course than resisting.”

Shatter wouldn't admit, but she did enjoy these little games with mechs. They were all so grumpy submitting to her... at first. Later, they usually came around, like Dropkick did, liking their roles. Or if they didn't... well, they were still free game. Shatter has never made a mistake of going after a superior or those with friends in high places.

But Barricade was alone and had no more rank than her, so... she rubbed her crotch plate on the black and white aft, leaving a bright red streak there and smirked as Barricade bucked up, trying to throw her off. Unsuccessfully, of course. 

“Shatter...!”

“Barricade... I'm waiting...”

Despite of the singsong tone, she increased the force a little bit, until she heard the distinctive creak of the overstressed metal. Barricade snarled and made a last, vain move to free himself, but he stopped when Shatter just smirked and let her full weight lean on the police car. Strong as he was, a well-constructed mech, the triplechanger was just stronger, heavier... better. Barricade reluctantly loosened his own hold on red plating.

“Unicron damn it, Shatter... okay, I yield!”

“That's a good mech...” Shatter all but crooned. He carefully loosened the grip on the black arm, just to signal her acceptance of the submission., but still held the police-car pinned to the ground. His crotch carved some more red streaks onto black plating. It was a good look, she decided. Barricade was obviously on a different opinion, from his snarled insults. 

“Pit-spawned bucket of bolts, get off me!”

“Now, now, none of that... I can make it worth your while...”

“What if I don't want it?”

“Oh, but you will... right?” Shatter pinned the smaller mech to the ground a bit tighter to stop his squirming... and rubbed a servo on his panel. 

“Somemech is getting hot here... Why would you say no when your frame already said yes?”

Barricade trashed and swore more in answer. Not that it helped – Shatter was stronger and she already decided what she wanted. Everything the black and white mech did was just prolonging her game.

And she so loved this game. Their respective missions could wait for a joor or two. 

She rose a meter or so and let Barricade almost free before yanking the mech back so fast, his shoulder joint was probably out of alignment now. He crashed into her chest and Shatter smirked down while folding her long arms around him, trapping the frustrated police-car again.

“Eager, aren't you...?”

“Slag you to the Pit, you bewinged demon!” Barricade's claws shrieked on her plating, adding a set of deep cuts to the already dented metal.

“Now, now, that wasn't nice... I didn't know you were into this, but well... I'm happy to oblige.”

She casually crushed the offending set of digits and hungrily drank in the pained hiss.

“Stop it, damn you! I yielded! What do you want?”

“Haven't you guessed..?” Shatter could talk sensually. She just most often didn't choose to.

Barricade shook his helm, but the hiss turned into a quickly stifled moan as a big, red servo fondled his panel. Shatter laughed deep from her vocalizer and pinned him to the rock-face. He was nearly ready to give up... to truly yield, not just to say so. When Barricade opened his lips for another round of curses, Shatter moved in fast and took his mouth. She was as relentless and vicious in it as she was while fighting, her sharp fangs tearing into soft derma and biting a glossa, plundering his mouth for all it was worth. Barricade had little choice left and the fight has gone out from him suddenly. He bit back as much as he was able and Shatter approved this small, token resistance. He liked mech submitting to her, but she liked them to do it kicking and not meekly lying down. Part of the reason she preferred other Cons instead of Autobots. 

“Open.” Her own claws scratched his plate that was definitely hot now. Curious, as she had never heard that Barricade was a sub mech, but who cared? She knew that the other hunter was sometimes dallying with the Air Commander, but she never followed those rumours, so couldn't know who was taking it in that relationship. Nor did she care.

The black panel slid back and Shatter wasted no time to plunge her digits among the folds.

“God mech...” She purred, and licked her bite-marks, soothing the sting. Lapping up their mingled energon as well from dozens of small cuts.

Barricade snarled back at the casually demeaning appraisal but his valve was more than a bit moist and producing even more lubricant as she sank her long digits into the slick channel, mapping out his calipers and nodes... his claws, the other set shrieked on her plating again and rather forcefully plucked some wires where the red plating was missing. Shatter enjoyed the slight tinges of mixed pleasure-pain signals whatever Barricade's intention was with that! 

“Like it rough...? Good, because I do.”

Her digits left his valve and she gave him no warning as she replaced them immediately with her spike. Exquisite... Shatter groaned as she forced herself deeper into the slick, but tight channel, squashing the smaller mech into the rock-face, the force of her thrusts lifting him up, her arms holding him there and she fragged him without mercy, without caring... because she could. The naked pistons in her abdomen pumped and strained with her thrusts. Damn, he was tight, a lot more than Dropkick. Probably alone for awhile, not counting Frenzy, but the minibot wouldn't be much help in this either. 

Barricade grunted with her thrusts, claws still mindlessly scratching her breastplate, the deep red shoulders, the shining chrome of her alt-mode, shrieking on small glass headlights... but the police-car was not resisting her any more. In fact his valve was becoming slicker and slicker as he produced lubricant to ease the way of her relentless thrusts, his fangs bit her wherever he could reach cherry red plating, and black legs clamped around red hips to draw her closer, deeper... and she was happy to oblige. Pounding into him was no chore really. He was even better looking than Dropkick and better endowed in the processor too, if rumors were true. And a valve was a valve and she loved them all, loved to pound them, to frag them, to make them hers...

… and to empty her load into them, like she did now, growling and biting down viciously on his throat, marking him and he came too, shouting deep and husky but his valve clamped hard around her, milked her for the last hot drop...

Shatter kept only so much attention at him even in overload that she felt immediately when he tried to get away.

“Stop this.” She could barely speak, a grunt it was rather, but Barricade understood at once that she was not out of it. He stopped squirming and Shatter casually tore the dagger out of his whole servo, crushing the digits as she did so. “Now, now, none of that now. I might be forced to do something hasty.” She buried the dagger into a ridiculous shoulder-piece – really, these mechs had no sense of form these orns? - and swallowed the pained hiss along with the renewed curses. She needed this after what happened at that accursed dock, needed it after losing Dropkick... and absolutely fraggingly needed it after loosing to a slagging minibot... and by the feel of his field, Barricade needed something like this as well.

“Now, tell me, Barricade...” She kept her spike where it was, the slick, tight, spasming valve exquisite around her length... “What are you here for on this mudball?”


	3. Having fun Decepticon style

 

Barricade was sullen and grumbling afterwards, answering her in terse sentences with minimal useful information. He revealed that Frenzy was undercover somewhere – he wouldn't tell where and Shatter didn’t force the issue – and that their mission was to search for the Allspark on all words and Frenzy had a hunch here that they might find a clue somewhere on this planet. Barricade was just staying low and waiting for him to signal his return. Shatter didn't mind his attitude. Mechs were strange that way, considering submitting as somehow inferior? Which was plain stupid, but Shatter rather thought that most mechs were pretty stupid anyway. Primus gave every mech the same interfacing equipment, so it was obvious that he didn't intend femmes to use valves only and mechs their spikes. Wasn't it blatantly obvious? It was, in her opinion. She preferred spiking, so that was that, but never considered it inferior for the receiving partner. Case in point: the Air Commander, Starscream, who was a valve mech but still the Second in the army and de facto leading it while Lord Megatron was... somewhere.

 

The small, secluded valley they ended up in the orn before was thankfully pretty much devoid of humans, making it a good place for them to stay for a bit. Shatter fiddled with her damaged parts again, making good progress repairing the damaged flight sensors while Barricade prowled around and grumbled after fixing his own injuries. Shatter got tired of it pretty quickly. She still couldn't fly, but she was getting there.

 

“Come on, we need to make some plans. I need to send a message to Cybertron. Fast.”

 

“To Cybertron?” Barricade snorted. “Good luck. The tech here is so primitive, it would be a miracle reaching Saturn, much less Cybertron.”

 

“I know. I just need a suitable radio tower which I can augment. I know how, I started it once, I was just... intercepted.”

 

The narrowed optics from the other hunter told her clearly that Barricade noted the vague answer.

 

“Who stopped you? Not the local flesbags?” A shrewd look swept over her plating, lingering on the missing parts and his tone gained a gleeful edge. “Humans stopped you! How?”

 

Of course he would pry, Shatter seethed inwardly, and of course he would use it against her. It was pretty embarrassing anyhow.

 

“I dealt with the humans! There are Autobots on the planet. At least one, maybe more.”

 

“Which one bested you?” The hunter's grin was downright sadistic now. He was enjoying the topic, obviously, as much as Shatter hated it. “C'mon, it's important to know which great Autobot warrior we might have to face again!”

 

“Doesn't matter! He won't be a danger again. But I must find the place where Blitzwing fought with B-127. He had another of the transmitters that can augment the human tech enough.”

 

“Blitz is also here? Where? How? What's all the business with this slagging planet?”

 

“I'm... not sure. Didn't get a chance to talk with him and B-127 somehow killed him.”

 

Barricade stared at her incredulously, doorwings shooting up, and he even stopped pacing.

 

“B-127... and... Blitzwing... he... what?”

 

“I don't know, okay? Came across the info in the human’s database, but not the details. Only the place where it happened. Not that far from here. Human military is there, but only a small force, we can deal with them.”

 

Barricade was still shaking his helm like he couldn't believe it at all. Come to think of it, Shatter hardly could believe it herself. That blasted yellow minibot got extremely lucky more than once when he shouldn't have been. Barricade transformed impatiently, revving his engine at her in a slightly rude way.

 

“I must see this!”

 

“Let's get going then. I need that transmitter, mine was... damaged.”

 

“Means you lost it.” Barricade didn't miss the jab and Shatter snarled back at him angrily. She transformed as well and she was smugly noting – and flaunting! - her now bigger dimensions over the black and white police car.

 

“So what if I did?”

 

“Nothing...” Barricade revved the engine again in his police-car disguise and pulled away rather rapidly, his gleeful tone floating behind him. ”The great and famous Shatter got beaten by a minibot and lost an important piece of equipment to Humans! A truly successful mission so far, ehh?”

 

Shatter snarled back but it was only the dust behind Barricade who has seen her. She had thrown herself into gear angrily, ignoring the jags of pain from still damaged parts and shot after the Saleen. They weren’t racing again, but stretching their wheels was another matter.

 

“Slagger.”

 

 _“Hey, where are we going again?”_ Barricade's comm was deliberately nonchalant. The slagger has found something on her and he was going to use it, she just knew.

 

_“A place called Mount Tamalpais. Some sort of a silver mine.”_

_“That's less than a joor away.”_ came Barricade's answer.

 

_“Yeah, if these fleshies don't have what they call a traffic jam again. I didn't see anything like jam, but when it happens, the roads are worse than Tarn was at rush hour.”_

 

Barricade laughed and flashed some sort of a strobing, blue light source affixed to the roof of his alt.

 

 _“Not when I use this.”_ He boasted. _“Local Enforcers have this light and it makes the fleshies' cars shift to give way.”_

“ _Useful_. _Still, we shouldn’t use it needlessly_.” Shatter kept up beside the Saleen, unwilling to have him lead but also unable to overtake on the twisting, winding road. Human traffic picked up as they left the valley as well and she didn't want to be discovered yet again. Not before she managed to signal Cybertron!

 

Barricade pinged her with a file, after the third Human car honked at them angrily; politely but insistently and she scanned the package cautiously.

 

 _“Road rules.”_ he commed, explaining it. “ _If we want to blend in, you will need it. We shouldn't drive side by side, Humans don't do it on small roads.”_

 

 _“Hnnnh...”_ She hummed and muscled him off the road, jostling half playfully, half seriously. She wasn't going to drive behind him!

 

“ _Damn you, Shatter, that's the opposite of blending in!_ ” Barricade swerved and slid on the dusty gravel, raising a huge plume of dust behind him. “ _You don't do this with an Police-car!”_

 

_“But I do it with you, Cade...”_

 

Barricade's only answer was a frustrated growl as he regained the road and fell in behind her.

 

Shatter kept up the playful – or at least she intended it as playful as Decepticons did playful anyway – ribbing and innuendos while they drove and she didn't mind Barricade participating very little in it. He would come around. Or not.

 

 _“So how do you intend it to go?”_ He broke his silence as the mountain became visible ahead of them.

 

Shatter had already given the matter some thought, so she could answer straight away.

 

_“We must kill them all and fast, so they cannot raise an alarm. That gives us enough time to search for the transmitter. Maybe keep one alive for a little time so we can interrogate it but it’s not a must.”_

 

“ _Cutting their landlines first then.”_ Barricade's tone indicated that he had agreed with the principle. “ _They have radios too, but they always try those phones first._ ”

 

“ _We can do that first then_.” Shatter agreed and Barricade pinged her a map with the phone lines and some objects highlighted on it. _“See those relays there, and there? We take those out and it brings down their lines. They are using really primitive tech.”_

 

_“Good. Makes it easier to deal with them.”_

 

A couple of small explosives quickly took care of the phone relay stations and soon, they were in root form and approaching the small military camp set up around the abandoned mine entrance. It was pathetic really, Shatter snorted as he observed the number and placement of the soldiers and their tech. Barricade was doing it from the opposite vantage point and they quickly marked their targets, optimizing and streamlining the attack. It was refreshing to work with a partner, who was capable of this... Dropkick used to be a simple grunt, who had to be led and ordered around. Whereas Barricade... Barricade was a worthy partner and clearly intelligent enough to plan an attack instead of rushing into it with no consideration.

 

At her signal, Barricade let loose at the guard tower while she took out the prefab communications building. The twin explosions broke the silence of the evening and lit up the small place. Humans poured out of other prefab buildings and Shatter smirked as she mowed them down with her smaller guns. Barricade has thrown himself into alt and was roaring down from his hilltop, shooting at the panicked, running soldiers, who didn't know who hit them. Shatter sent another rocket into the command center and folded into alt to join him. Together they finished off the small contingent pretty quickly. Hardly a few breems passed and the only noise around them was the crackling of burning buildings and an occasional moan from wounded fleshies. They took care of those too, leaving noone alive.

 

“That was fun!” Shatter exclaimed with a satisfied smirk of her mouthparts. “I don't think they knew what hit them.”

 

“Well, yeah, there was barely a few dozen of them here and no heavy tech” Barricade calmly stepped on a Human still moving as he answered. “Now, let's see your transmitter. They will discover what happened in a day or two at most and come back with the big guns.”

 

“Pffftt...” Shatter wasn't particularly worried. She had seen the Humans' tech and wasn't impressed. Sure a few of them they could harm a Cybertronian – if they were lucky – but not that many. Most just caused dents if anything at all. “They have nothing dangerous nearby.”

 

“Except their Air Force.”

 

“Those are not Seekers either.”

 

“But they have rockets too.” Barricade pointed at her wrists, the rocket mounts still out and active. “Those can harm you and me both. And you are damaged still.”

 

“They don’t call the Air Force for a small contingent falling silent.”

 

“They might if that is a site where they saw Aliens and kept the parts.”

 

“True enough. Hurry then.”

 

Even as they talked, Shatter turned around and let her powerful onboard scanners sweep the area for anything Cybertronian. Barricade followed her example. There were assorted small pieces around among the greenery and near the rock face, but their attention was pulled to a sturdier building that was part of the original mining complex and which practically lit up under their scanners.

 

“The fools collected Blitz's parts for us there.” Shatter pointed the building out.

 

“All the easier to find what you need. “ Barricade nodded and was already dismantling the roof of the building.

 

Shatter glanced at the mech bemused. Barricade noticed the stare and shrugged.

 

“Human buildings have floors inside. Neither of us would fit in there. Frenzy would, which is why he is the one snooping around at... wherever. I found the easiest way to search by myself is to take off the roof and go down from there.”

 

“Interesting idea...” Shatter went closer and he saw that the police-car was right. Under the removed roof the floor was full of computers and similar tech and much-much lower in height than the place she and Dropkick was led before. Barricade knocked down the walls and proceeded to tear up the next layer. Shatter added her strength too, as it appeared to be sturdier than the roofing. Together they got it off with minimal breaking and damage to the floor below.

 

But it was well worth the effort. Underneath, on what looked to be the ground floor, lay parts that were definitely Cybertronian and apparently a flier. Blitzwing. The parts were separated, cleaned and marked with Human signs, some of them cordoned off, some on worktables, already picked apart – obviously the fleshies had no compunctions to take apart a mech and learn from his parts. But then, Shatter had the suspicion that Humans didn't consider their kind truly intelligent. She had overheard a lot of things in that Sector Seven base, very little of it complimentary. It was reciprocal, she supposed – she didn't consider the fleshies particularly intelligent either. Well, maybe a few.

 

They combed through the parts and debris, Shatter subspacing several flight parts and equipment that she could use herself while Barricade helped himself with a gun Blitzwing used to carry. But they found no transmitter there, among the parts and Shatter got increasingly frustrated. Barricade wisely drew further away from her, poking through other buildings while she proceeded to violently dismantle the whole thing when it became clear that her goal was not there. It had always calmed her to engage in some pointless violence when she was truly angry. That, and interfacing, but they didn't have time for the latter now.

 

“Unicron's balls!” She swore and Barricade snickered behind her. Shatter whirled, snarling at the other hunter, her remaining left wing bristling up in annoyance. ”Don't sneak on me!”

 

“I wasn't.” Barricade wisely kept himself still, servos visible and empty “But there are parts in the greenery and among the rocks too. Humans might not have noticed them all.”

 

Shatter nodded sharply and pushed him aside. Trampling among the greenery – and some human remains – was disgusting, and they would need to clean their pedes afterwards, but she needed that transmitter. Most of the pieces were just parts of Blitzwing's armor and Shatter soon started to ponder how it could have broken to so many small pieces. It wasn't normal, even in a fight. The yellow minibot had packed a pretty strong arm cannon, but nowhere on the level of causing a much larger Seeker to explode to small pieces. That is... exploding... she stopped with one piece of metal in her palm – a rocket fin, like the ones Seekers carried. Those had the power of tearing a frame apart. If B-127 managed to hit one, then... maybe.

 

“Yeah, that could have happened.”

 

She wasn't even aware that she pondered the last aloud until Barricade answered to it.

 

“It doesn't matter.” She threw down the piece of rocket casing and went on searching for the transmitter. She had no particular feelings towards Blitzwing. But she did check her own rockets to see whether they were secure enough. A stray shot shouldn't cause an explosion just like that...

 

“There!”

 

Shatter kicked aside a tree when her sensors lit up victoriously. Under a big rock was the faint green light of the transmitter. Together they rolled the rock aside and Shatter carefully picked up the thing. It was unharmed for all it went through and she ex-vented a small sigh of relief before placing it in her subspace.

 

“Got it. Now, let's find a suitable radio tower again.”

 

They left the carnage behind without a second glance. Humans were stupid. They still didn't search vehicles, even though some of them already knew that Cybetronians took such forms. But there were no checkpoints, no traffic controls, nothing on their way towards the coast again. They were perfectly safe from discovery and content to keep it that way. Another difference from Dropkick, Shatter pondered – Barricade was much more agreeable to stay hidden and accomplish his goals stealthily. The two Cybertronians powered down for a short recharge in a dark, empty parking lot by an abandoned shopping mall. But Shatter didn’t want to go to recharge immediately. She pinged Barricade with a few lewd suggestions and laughed when the Saleen just stood beside her stiffly and silently, poised on his wheels to bolt. Only… he knew that Shatter would just enjoy the chase if he did that and being faster she would win again.

 

“C’mon, Cade... you enjoyed it. Admit it.”

 

“No way.”

 

Shatter transformed an arm out to poke a black mirror that twitched.

 

“You did. What about doing it again?”

 

“No.”

 

“Come on...”

 

“No.”

 

Shatter poked him again and reaped some more twitches.

 

“I'll make it good.”

 

“Not here! It's a Human parking lot! I won't have a human ogling me interfacing!”

 

“Prude.” Shatter laughed deep and sensuous. “You wouldn't mind a mech watching.”

 

“Organics are... disgusting. And they would interrupt us.”

 

Shatter scooted closer to the Saleen until her door nearly touched his. A cable sneaked out and slid on the polished metal. Small sparks popped at its wake.

 

“This, perhaps then? Covert enough for your prudery?”

 

Barricade didn't answer so long that Shatter started to withdraw the cable. But then he extended his own stiffly, hesitantly reaching out towards the red Plymouth. Shatter snickered and slammed it home. He was cute with the hesitation but she would rather get on with it. Her own cable was dragged in as well and when Barricade slowly plugged her in, the circuit completed.

 

“Yes...”

 

She fired off the first wave of charge and felt the Saleen tremble under the power. But Barricade returned it with interest and soon enough they were lobbing their rising charge back and forth like old lovers. Each volley was greeted with moans and the two cars shook on their tires while sparks showered on the ground underneath and their core temperatures rose. A police siren came on, whooping irregularly and strobing at the rhythm of their exchange. Headlights – and Shatter had so many of those – flashed in a pattern and horns blared before they could stop the loud noises.

 

Shatter had the advantage of a much stronger engine and was slowly overwhelming the police car. Small curls of smoke sneaked out from under the black hood and he was getting incomprehensible over the exchange. Shatter fed him her charge, warm and crackling, fiery red and indomitable will – and he lobbed back his cast iron, dogged determination, black and white, unyielding but still like lighting... and she laughed and gasped and he moaned and growled and they were enveloped in a cacophony of light-sound-moving parts-electricity-pleasure...

 

“Ahhh...” Barricade was the first to blow his fuses and overload spectacularly. He was probably heard from a mile. Seen too with that police light.

 

Shatter took all what he put out and let loose too. All his power and most of hers exploded in an overload that blew most of her lights as well and blacked her out for a few kliks. Part of the reason why Shatter never preferred plug and play – it left her vulnerable afterwards for a short time. Fortunately Barricade was even more out of it, unable to take advantage. Shatter gasped for colder air as she regained her senses. She snickered at the dead silence around the lot, where before organic nightlife created its little sounds.

 

“And this was covert how...?”

 

He only got a faint snort from the Saleen before his cable was dragged back sluggishly.

 

“Let’s recharge now.” He suggested groggily and this time she was ready too. Leaving their sensors on guard, the two Cybertronians fell into their sleeping state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time Shatter really asks Barricade whether he wants the interface or not. Had he said no, she would not have forced it. In the previous chapter, they acted on hunter programming, which dictate that the one successful in a chase/hunt has a right to either exterminate or frag the quarry and they both considered this normal – which is why I marked it only as dub-con, and not rape. And btw... Barricade is not against it either. By hunter and Decepticon norms, Shatter is an extremely good catch, by looks, by power and by rank.


End file.
